Adventures of a Secret Task Force
by cosmo17
Summary: Friendly one shot drabbles, set between COD4 and MW2. Takes place with Task Force 141, friendship building and random moments on and off the battlefield. Rated T for minor language and whatnot.
1. Sick Day

**A/n: I decided I would write a series of Modern Warfare oneshots. Anticipating MW3, it is inspiring me to write, yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Cod4 or MW2. The games and characters belong to Infinity Ward.**

Sick Day

Gary Sanderson lay on his bunk, his eyes dull and his face flushed. It hurt to talk and it hurt to walk. He was sick.

"Come on man, get up! Ghost is gonna kick your ass!" Meat had said, grinning and shaking Roach.

"Five minutes, seriously," Roach said, sniffling.

It had been a full ten minutes, and Roach could barely move. Suddenly, the door flung open, painful sunlight pouring in. Roach shielded his eyes, catching a glimpse of a man in the doorway.

There stood Ghost, tall and menacing, wearing his skull mask, a t-shirt, and fatigues, holding a large thermometer.

"If you're faking it, you'd better start running," Ghost said, advancing at Roach.

Roach just coughed, the sound of mucus noticeable.

"Now, there's three places I could stick this thing..." Ghost held up the thermometer.

Roach's eyes widened in fear, and he grabbed the thermometer quickly, putting it under his tongue. Ghost chuckled and checked the reading.

103.1.

"Pshh, I went through an entire cover op at 110. Get up," he said.

Roach highly doubted this, but knew better than to disobey orders. He got out of bed, groaning. His whole body ached. Ghost left, and roach pulled on his clothes, heading outside. When he got to the track, the rest of the men were doing push-ups.

"Glad you could join us slacker. Fifty, then a mile. You know the drill," Ghost said, then began to lecture the men on the importance of push-ups.

Roach dropped down next to Royce, groaning.

"Dude, you don't look good," Royce said.

"My temperature is 103," Roach muttered.

"Can't you take medical leave for the day?"

"Ghost won't let me."

"Sucks dude, sorry."

About a quarter mile through his run, Roach had broken out in a cold sweat. His whole body however, was burning, and he was sure he would shatter if this went on. Suddenly, his stomach was in his throat. He ran off the track and heaved, throwing up in the grass. He looked up, seeing Ghost running over.

"Dammit," Roach mumbled to himself.

"What's up mate?" Ghost asked.

"I'm fine, sorry sir," Roach said, starting back towards the track.

Roach felt a hand on his shoulder.

"No you're not. Head to medical, rest up," Ghost said.

Roach was a bit surprised. He had almost thought the man was incapable of compassion, or at least basic kindness. Ghost patted him on the back and headed back to his chair. Roach smiled, and headed towards the medical building.

**How was this? It's been a while since I've written Call of Duty. Have any of you read How They Met: A Roach Tale by Gazlover12? Well, that's my sis, and I wrote that story! She has credited it to me don't worry, I'm not being evil :) or am I? muahaha! anyways, hope you all enjoy this! More one shots on the wayyyy!  
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	2. Fight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Modern Warfare series, or its characters. They belong to IW.**

Fight

Four men sat around the lounge of the Task Force base in Afghanistan. Their conversation had taken up an interesting topic.

"Mactavish could kick Ghost's ass!" Meat said.

"Well they could both kick yours," Royce said.

"What about the General? Think he could take the Captain down?" Worm asked.

"It'd be a tough fight," Roach said.

The men had been discussing who could beat each other in a fist fight. It was pretty amusing. Then, Ghost came into the lounge, his mask on, his sunglasses missing. He saw the men and rolled his eyes, heading to the coffee machine. Suddenly, Meat had an idea.

"Hey Lieutenant, Roach says he could kick your ass in a fist fight," he said, grinning evilly at Roach.

Roach did a double take, and his heart rate went crazy.

"No, I-"

"Is that so?" Ghost said calmly, stirring his coffee.

"Sir, he's-"

"Well Roach, maybe we should fight then. Say, after dinner?"

With that, Ghost took his coffee and left, ignoring a spluttering, terrified Roach, attempting to convince him not to fight. Meat smiled widely.

"He'll destroy you!" Meat said.

Roach let out a scream of fury and jumped at Meat, who easily overpowered him, pinning him to the floor and sitting on his face, laughing the entire time. They went to dinner at six, Roach mumbling curses the entire way to the mess hall. He just sat through dinner, staring at his uneaten cheeseburger. Meat was quite happy however, grabbing the burger and eating it in one bite.

"Look over there dude," Royce said, nudging Roach.

Ghost sat at the far table, alone, staring directly at Roach. He cracked his neck, then his knuckles. He picked up a metal fork from the table, and bent it into a circle. Roach gulped and got up, rushing out. The cool night air felt good. Roach didn't even notice that someone else was there as well.

"Roach, what are you doing out here?"

Captain Mactavish leaned against the wall of the mess hall, smoking a cigar. Roach suddenly felt a huge wave of relief. Captain Mactavish was funny, really nice, and tough as hell. He wouldn't let Ghost touch him.

"Oh, just needed some fresh air sir," Roach said, smiling.

"Same here. You know, you're the lucky ones. I've been swamped with paperwork all day. They actually still keep track of exactly how many shots are fired at the range," Mactavish chuckled lightly.

"Sorry sir, sounds boring. At least you're not harassed by Meat every day."

"That lad's trouble. He'll get himself beaten up some day. Speaking of which, you sticking around for this fight?"

Roach's heart raced, and his palms grew sweaty.

"Fight, sir?"

"Aye, some poor lad challenged Ghost to a fist fight. Last guy who did that spent a week in medical, pissing through a tube. I guess I'll have to break it up if it gets that bad though," Mactavish said, taking a drag on his cigar.

Roach just turned and ran, as fast as his legs could carry him, to the barracks. A large group of men stood there, cheering. Roach stopped, and the circle opened. Ghost stood in the center, wearing a white shirt and camouflage pants, mask, sunglasses, and steel toed boots. Roach turned on his heel, only to find Mactavish behind him, carrying a wooden bat, an ominous look on his face. He felt a hand grab his collar, and throw him into the ring.

"Hey pansy, thought you wouldn't show," Ghost said, resulting in cheers.

Roach saw Mactavish close the circle, yelling, "Wallop his ass, Ghost!"

Ghost grabbed Roach by the arms, and pinned him to the ground.

"Sir, we can't fight," Roach yelled, horrified.

"Why not? Scared are you? Don't worry, I wont go easy," he said, picking Roach up and throwing him at the wall of people.

Meat caught him, throwing him back towards Ghost. Ghost then tripped him, and he landed flat on his face. The men laughed as Roach looked up at the huge figure. Mactavish tossed him the bat, and he caught it.

"Time for the pain," Ghost said, and grabbed Roach by the arm.

He dragged him into the barracks and slammed the door shut. Roach was sure he would suffer. Even Mactavish wasn't protecting him, he was instigating this. Ghost then yelled loudly and began to beat the walls with the bat. Roach cowered on the floor, until Ghost began to openly laugh.

"Don't worry mate, I'm not gonna kill you. Take this, it's time for revenge," Ghost said, tossing Roach a tube of fake blood.

Roach just stared at it, his shakiness dying down.

"But, you were so convincing..."

"Me and 'Tavish love the scare tactic. Sorry mate, but it's pretty funny. We spent an hour planning this out before dinner, and the lead was so perfect. Now put that on, and we'll make Meat pay," Ghost said, and began to yell and beat the walls again.

Roach grinned putting the fake blood all over his face, and tore his shirt up a bit.

"Thanks sir," Roach said happily.

"No problem. Now let's make this convincing."

From Meat's point of view, Roach was thrown from the barracks, bloody and broken, moaning in pain. Ghost walked out and raised the bat, which was covered in blood.

"You!" he yelled, pointing at Meat, running at him.

Meat let out a shrill scream and bolted, Ghost chasing him. The chase lasted ten minutes, before Ghost had pinned him down. Roach had retrieved some rope, and the tied him upside down from a tree. Roach and Ghost both laughed, shaking hands before leaving Meat hanging there to wallow in self pity.

"This sucks," was all he could say.

**Two chapters in one day! Yippee! Hope you liked it, reviews welcome :)**


	3. The Pit

**Disclaimer: I dont own cod or anything, blahdidee blahhh**

The Pit

Roach had always hated being tested. High school, home, job interviews, whatever. When he was under pressure, it never turned out well. He had been randomly selected for Task Force 141, three weeks ago, by pure luck. Not that he had much of that, either. It seemed he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time, or bad things just happened to him. Roach supposed he was selected because he hadn't been under pressure at the time. Being in the U.S. Army for a time, he had preformed exceptionally well at the 'expert' training course, and his former Lieutenant had witnessed it.

Now, he stood here, in Afghanistan, in front of one of the toughest training courses to date. The Pit. It seemed menacing, terrifying to the young man. It was also required that he run it, as new initiates must before being allowed to serve on the battlefield. Roach had only been in the group for a full two weeks, after the week long transfer. His new Lieutenant stood in the entrance, his mask seeming to smirk at Roach. That skull was really freaky, and the sunglasses made him even more scary.

"Grab a weapon and get in there Sanderson," he said in a thick British accent.

Roach knew that the more 'experienced' members called him Ghost, but now he just went with a simple 'sir.'

"Yes sir," he said, swallowing and picking up a small SMG.

"Remember, Mactavish is up in observation. I'll be giving you pointers throughout the course," Ghost said, and the gate swung open.

Mactavish was the Captain and the commander of all Task Force 141 members. Mactavish was extremely high in rank, answering and meeting regularly with the man who had organized the entire task force, General Shepherd. Mactavish was a Scotsman, clearly defined by his mohawk and the scar through his eyebrow. Now, Roach could see his head, standing on a platform to the left, up high. Roach's stomach turned. Great, now he was sure to screw up.

He walked in, his heart hammering. What if he failed? The men would laugh at him, harass him. He would be sent home, probably laughed at there, all the terrible things... He masked the thoughts as best he could, and ran forward at top speed.

"Go, go, go!" Ghost's voice shouted through a surround sound system in The Pit.

Roach brought his weapon up and fired as targets began to pop up all over the course. They went down, spraying bits of wood, and echoing with loud dings that rang through the intercoms.

"Second area, move!"

He ran hard, bringing up his gun as more targets appeared. He took careful note of the civilian targets as he fired at the others. Then, he entered a close quartered building. It had a set of stairs in the corner. Roach destroyed the targets in the building, and sprinted fast up the stairs.

"Knife the-"

A huge object, white and solid, flew out at Roach. It slammed into him, and he was dimly aware of falling backwards before everything went black.

Water. There was water. Rushing, flowing, and cold. He saw the ocean, sparkling in a brilliant sunlight. In the shining ocean, a sailboat drifted lazily along. Roach stared at it contently, and noticed its sail was a bit... strange. It was that of a black mask, a white skull and sunglasses stitched in. It spoke.

"Roooaaaccchhh... Rooaacchh..."

Then, the ocean swirled, roaring relentlessly, spraying into the sky. Roach ran, but the ocean engulfed him.

His eyes shot open. Everything was fuzzy, slowly focusing in on a man standing above him. Ghost was there, holding a dripping bucket.

"Uugg, my head. What happened?" Roach asked, clutching his pounding, sore, and dripping head.

"A target popped at the top of the stairs. It slammed into you mate," Ghost said.

Suddenly, Roach was very alert.

"I've got to finish," he said, standing shakily.

"You just fell down a set of cement stairs, you're in no condition..."

Roach ignored his superior, grabbing his gun from the floor and stumbling up the stairs. The target popped and he rammed his knife through it, a bit satisfied to have payback against the insolent, painted, wooden target. He continued, his head flaring up with fresh pain. He ignored it, shooting down the targets in his way. He jumped off the building and ran through the last area, decimating the wooden soldiers in his way. He reached the end, sprinting through the gate, before collapsing in the dirt/

"Five minutes, fifty two seconds," a voice said from above him.

Roach blinked, looking up. Captain Mactavish towered over him, holding an over-sized stopwatch.

"The required time is thirty second or less," Mactavish said, pocketing the stopwatch.

Roach hung his head, preparing to be escorted out. He'd be the laughing stock of the entire U.S. Army.

"However, I havn't seen anyone thrown down those stairs before, let alone get back up and run the rest of the course in twelve seconds with a probable concussion. Determination, loyalty, and bravery are the key points of the 141. You pass with flying colors lad."

Roach could hardly believe his ears.

"But I failed... horribly."

"Aye, you did," Mactavish chuckled, "but you failed with pride. Therefore, you pass."

"My head hurts sir," Roach said, grinning.

Mactavish laughed.

"Probably my rambling nonsense. Come on, I'll take you to medical," he said, pulling up the concussed soldier.

Roach just smiled as Ghost gave him a thumbs up from the entrance to The Pit.

**A/n: This wasn't as humorous, but I thought I would do something nice, or show one of Roach's many unlucky situations. He certainly had many, didn't he? Haha, anyways, reviews are welcome!**


	4. Paperwork

Mactavish sighed loudly, for the thousandth time that day. Today was paperwork day, and he had a large stack on his desk. He had actually measured it with a tape measure, and it was 2' 1'' in height. Shepherd had swamped him with battle reports, bullet counts, status updates, and everything in between. Some sheets required his signature only, some had a full packet to fill with personal information. He had sighed because of the two inch thick packet on his desk. Shepherd wanted personal reviews of every soldier on the base, two paragraphs minimum. He opened to the first page, seeing it was Archer.

"I think you need a break mate."

Mactavish jumped, nearly forgetting that his Lieutenant, Simon "Ghost" Riley, was sitting in the corner in a large, comfortable armchair, typing on his laptop. Ghost looked up past his mask, and Mactavish had a feeling he was smirking underneath it.

"I can't. I have to finish this paperwork by tomorrow morning. I swear, this whole bloody paperwork thing is overrated, and my hair is going to go grey!" Mactavish said, running a hand through his mohawk.

Ghost snickered and shut his laptop, getting up and walking over to his Captain. He stood uncomfortably close to his shoulder, staring down at the paperwork. It was silent for a moment, Mactavish's pen hovering over the paper. It touched to paper and Ghost made a slight cough. Mactavish sighed and slowly shifted away from Ghost, hiding the paper with his arm. Ghost made an effort to lean in close, peering around the Captain's arm to see what he would write. Mactavish threw down his pen.

"Ghost, I can't concentrate!" he said exasperatedly.

Ghost laughed loudly, a rare occurrence.

"Sorry mate, couldn't resist. So, how are you going to describe those... ruffians?" Ghost said, glancing out the window, seeing a crowd of men surrounding Roach, who was downing an entire jar of pickle juice.

"I have no idea. Archer is an excellent sniper, but kind of an arse to the others. Don't think Shepherd wants to hear that though," Mactavish said, resting his chin in his hand and sighing yet again.

"Well, the man smells to. Like, all the time. Smelly bastard gets out of the shower, and all I can smell is-"

"Enough, Ghost!" Mactavish cut him off, and Ghost laughed again, clearly in a very good mood.

"Alright, I'll be serious. Lets write these reviews 'Tavish."

**XxXxXxXxXxX**

Mactavish and Ghost were laughing hard as they wrote the reviews. They had known that the men were wild, but it was quite fun listing the traits of the men. It was Roach's turn now, and Ghost was listing off a series of his qualities.

"The man's impossible to kill you know, but the little bastard has some horrible luck. Remember The Pit?"

"Yeah mate, little bugger never seems to go a day without some stroke of bad luck. He falls off things, trips over random objects, even spills his soup every time we have it."

Mactavish chuckled and wrote down every last thing. Though he ended it with,

"Despite all of these observations, I have recognized Gary Sanderson as a well trained, battle hardened soldier, capable and very fun to be around. He is loyal to the cause, and will not give up, even in the face of death. I have seen these excellent qualities myself, and pass along this information with respect and happiness."

Their laughter died down. Staring at the writing in front of them, they both felt proud, happy, and grateful. Ghost turned to stare at his Captain.

"That's deep mate."

Mactavish laughed loudly.

"Wonder if Shepherd would feel that way?"

"Doubtful. I don't think he's really one for family. He takes his work seriously though."

"That why you respect the man?"

Mactavish paused, thoughtful.

"Shepherd is a hero. Why shouldn't I respect my boss?"

"Just be careful mate. Anyway, who's next?" Ghost asked.

"Oh no..."

"Bloody hell..."

"MEAT!"

**A/n: *sigh* I hope this was okay, I feel as if it is incomplete. I didn't really know where else to go with it. :P I'll leave that up to my viewers to decide. Was it ended to quickly? Hope its okay. R&R **


	5. Boredom

Boredom

Roach lay in his bunk, trying desperately to read a book. The funny thing was, Roach never read books. Truth was, he was bored. Mactavish had been feeling under the weather, and given the men the day off. Ghost had been disappointed, arguing with Mactavish about how important it was for them to train, but Mactavish simply waved him off, saying, "If I'm not doing anything today, then neither should the rest of these fine lads."

Ghost had walked off, grumbling to himself as usual. Who knows where he had gone. So, Roach had tried to find as many things as he could to do, but it was pointless. So he had dug through Ghost's personal stuff, and found an old World War 2 book. However, he found himself reading the same sentence over and over again, completely unable to concentrate. The book was so boring!

"Guys, I'm bored," Roach groaned, throwing the book across the room.

Meat, who was sitting at the table drawing a picture, just let out a small "mhm" and continued to draw. Royce, who was listening to music, didn't even respond. Roach sighed and rolled out of his bunk, walking out. Maybe he could harass Toad and Archer? Those two were always so... uptight. No, they would probably report him to Mactavish, and Roach didn't want the Captain upset if he wasn't feeling well.

Soon, he wandered into the mess hall, to find Ghost, painting the walls.

"Roach, just in time! Grab a brush," Ghost hollered, catching sight of the young Sergeant.

Roach knew better than to argue, quickly grabbing a brush and beginning to paint. The two painted in silence for awhile, before Ghost slammed down his paintbrush, splattering paint all over the floor. He cursed and sat at a table, folding his arms.

"Something wrong sir?" Roach asked inquisitively.

"I'm bloody bored, what does it look like? Dammit, I could be training you all right now!" Ghost said, huffing.

Roach put his brush down and sat next to Ghost.

"I've been bored all day! You always work us so hard, it's so counterproductive. Meat and Royce don't care, they would rather be all lazy, but I need something to do, I'm going crazy here!" Roach yelled, burying his face in his hands.

Ghost looked at him in astonishment.

"I didn't know anyone else got as bored as I do," was all he said.

Suddenly, Roach hatched an idea.

"Well, we could hang out."

Ghost raised an eyebrow.

"Me? You? HANG OUT? That's insane mate. No way."

Roach hung his head, a bit sad. Ghost saw this and softened a little.

"Roach... Fine, we'll hang out."

Roach jumped into the air, cheering loudly. Ghost raised a hand to stop him, but he decided to leave it be, quickly lowering his hand. Roach was really enjoying himself, and they hadn't even done anything yet. At least this would be an interesting experience.

"So, what first?" Ghost asked, a bit hesitantly.

"Lets post an announcement on the bulletin board, saying that the Captain can't do anything because he has bad gas!" Roach said, giggling.

Ghost gasped.

"But 'Tavish will get pissed!" he said, panicking a bit.

"Nah, he won't even know who it was. He'd probably think it was Meat anyways. Come on, lets do something rebellious!"

Ghost was horrified. How could he, the most loyal man on base, do something against the Captain? Mactavish was his best friend after all...

"No way Roach, that's not fair to Mactavish. Something else."

Roach looked crestfallen, but quickly brightened up, hatching another idea.

"We could climb that big tree out at the edge of the field," he said.

"What?"

It was to late. Roach had grabbed Ghost by the arm, and hauled him to the tree. Ghost stared at it a moment. At first, he felt nothing, but suddenly, a fierce determination filled his heart. The tree seemed to mock him, its hard, scratchy bark, its thick, ugly branches, its hideous leaves...

"Come on you little bugger, lets climb this thing," Ghost said, grasping a branch and hauling himself up.

Roach had never been so happy in his entire life. Ghost, his hard-ass, uptight commander, climbing a freaking tree! Like a happy kid, Ghost climbed, reaching the top in minutes. Roach hauled himself up, settling on a branch next to Ghost.

"This is the life, huh?"

"This is a perfect sniping position," Ghost observed, peering down around the base.

"Yeah, remind me to hide up here with a paintball gun some time," Roach said, grinning.

Ghost stared into the distance, enjoying the mid-day view. The sun was high, birds were flitting around here and there, and the wind felt good. Suddenly, his body lurched, and his stomach dropped.

"Saved your life!" Roach shrieked happily, shaking Ghost hard.

Ghost turned his head slowly, his heartbeat slowing as he realized what Roach had just done. It seemed that Roach realized it to, as his smile faded, and he began to work his way down the tree.

"You can't hide from me forever Sanderson! Mactavish can't do a bloody thing, yeah you better run! Go, go, go! Wanker!" Ghost called out.

Roach had reached the bottom of the tree in an instant, and bolted off towards the barracks. Ghost laughed out loud, sitting back and enjoying the view.

Chinchilla!

**A/n: Here's to another chapter! Yay! Thank you to my reviewers, you all inspire me to write more! :D**


	6. Cook Off

Cake batter splattered on the walls. Spaghetti sauce on the ceiling. Flour scattered on the windows. Roach stood in front of the stove, desperately stirring his pot of meatballs. He was failing horribly. Several of the meatballs had exploded in large showers of meat and sauce, and they were burning, becoming black and charred. Now, he had just remembered to stir, and had spilled quite a bit of sauce over the side and onto the stove. Why was Roach cooking? Because Mactavish had asked him to. Well, not him, specifically, but everyone. The Captain had gotten the brilliant idea to hold a 'cook off' and instructed each man to cook his finest dish, for him to sample at dinner. Roach had no idea why he did it, but perhaps it was just because he enjoyed tormenting them. Ghost may make them run ten miles with no breaks, but only Mactavish would make them cook for him.

Ghost was having an equally difficult time. He had tried several times to make home made rice crispy treats, Mactavish's favorite desert, but failed. His first batch ended in a pile of steaming, blue slop. The fourth batch was equally horrible, and his eleventh had been the worst, causing all of the other men to run from the kitchen, holding their breath. Meat had cooked smoked sausage, and had done an excellent job the first time. It smelled heavenly, and looked simply amazing. He had carefully stored it away for dinner. Toad and Archer had each tried to make dumplings, and Royce had cooked strange tasting stuffed shells, which no one dared question what they had been stuffed with. Worm had made home made chicken soup, which happened to be fairly scrumptious.

Roach cried out in frustration as a meatball flopped to the floor with a splat. He picked it up and hurled it at a laughing Meat, which hit him squarely on the nose. Ghost looked over and sighed, dumping his fourteenth attempt into the trash.

"Bloody hell Meat, how do you do it?" Ghost asked in frustration.

Meat gingerly wiped the sauce from his face, and turned to Ghost.

"It's all in the technique man. You just... cook, you know? It's pretty simple really." Ghost let out an exasperated groan, pouring rice crisp into his pan.

"Well, can't you at least help me? Show me or something, please!" Ghost asked desperately, motioning to the pan in anger as the crisps had already begun to smoulder.

Meat laughed.

"No way man! Mactavish said that everyone cooks their own dish, and I cooked mine," he said proudly.

"Then why are you still here?" Roach asked, burying his face in his hands.

"I like to watch my fellow friends in their moment of weakness. And you all think I'm the stupid one," Meat snorted haughtily.

"You will regret every moment of this on the training courses. Believe that," Ghost threatened.

Meat's expression grew terrified, and he chuckled nervously.

"Uh, no need Lieutenant, on my way out," Meat saluted before running for the door.

"That's what I thought," Ghost said.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

Mactavish sat in his office, happily humming to himself as he browsed the internet. He was searching various recipes and gourmet dishes, wondering what the men would be making him tonight. He was very excited for tonight, it had been quite some time since he had had any sort of delicious foods. Those mess hall foods were alright, but it was no barbeque steak with peas and honey mustard. Yummy, that happened to be his favorite. Oh, he hoped Ghost remembered that. Or rice crispy treats, his favorite desert. He could definately go for some of those about now. Just one hour until dinner. Mactavish sat back and drummed his fingers on his desk in anticipation. He hadn't had a buffet in so long, the waiting was killing him. He grinned and returned to his computer, bringing up a news article about cooking.

**XxXxXxXxXx**

By dinner time, Roach was in a state of panic. What if Mactavish didn't enjoy the meatballs? What if he turned up his nose and demoted Roach for making such a hideous, disgusting bowl of charred, vile, stinky meat? Roach was horrified, sweating and trembling in fear. Meat stood next to him, jittery with excitement. He couldn't wait until the Captain tried his dish, which just had to be the best. A long sampling table had been set up, all of the participating men standing behind their meals. Mactavish would be entering in a matter of minutes, to sample their food. He had also said that there would be a grand prize for whomever had the finest dish. Meat was already bragging about winning the unknown prize.

"I totally have this prize man, in my pocket!"

Worm intervened quickly.

"What if it's to big for your pocket?"

Meat frowned slightly, his face darkening. It quickly lit up again.

"In my hands then, what does it matter?"

Roach decided to have some fun with him as well.

"Oh, it matters all the same. If it can't fit in your pocket or your hands, then how will you ever be able to claim the prize?"

A horrid look of confusion had overwhelmed the poor man.

"But-"

"And what if you don't win at all?" Worm said.

"But I have the best dish!"

"Suppose Mactavish hates smoked sausage? Suppose he's allergic?"

Now, Meat had begun to feel the same sense of panic Roach had felt just a few moments ago, and began to hyperventilate. Roach was trying to suppress his laughter, when the mess hall door flew open with a resounding bang. Meat let out a high pitched wail, Roach jumped, and Archer fell backwards. Ghost was the only one who appeared unaffected. Mactavish stood in the doorway, huge and menacing. An enormous smile of pure happiness was plastered across his face, and Roach felt as if he would be sick. He did not want his favorite Captain to be so terribly disappointed in him, and he most certainly did not want that smile to disappear. He hadn't seen Mactavish so happy since Christmas, when Ghost had made him a winter scarf. He still wore it on every last mission into the snowy Russian mountains, and every time a snow flake threatened to land. Either way, the man was happy, much to Roach's horror.

"Aye lads, what will you be serving me tonight?" he asked jovially, bouncing on his heels in excitement.

He spotted a plate of egg rolls at the end of the table, a man called Boomer standing behind them. Mactavish snatched an egg roll and took a ferocious bite, smiling widely at the delicious taste of vegetables and fried pork. He moved down the line, trying foods by the dozen. He licked his lips with a contented smile as he took a bite of Toad's dumplings, but was a bit disappointed at finding that Archer had made the same thing. His smile quickly brightened again when he reached Meat, who had sausage piled before him. Meat smiled up happily at Mactavish, and the Scot took a bite, chewing slowly. He beamed brightly at the young man, and Meat actually whooped in glee. Then, Mactavish was at Roach's dish.

"Roach..." Roach's heart stopped at the serious tone that had come from the Captain.

He looked up meekly, catching his superior's stern glance. He swallowed, attempting to say something, but his lips were suddenly dry. He could barely speak, trying desperately. Mactavish then brightened, a grin on his scarred and brilliant face.

"Only joking. I love meatballs!"He stabbed a meatball viciously with a fork and ate the whole thing, causing Roach to wince, nearly feeling his Captain's pain. Mactavish chewed slowly, then swallowed hard, shuddering a bit.

"Pretty good Roach. A bit burnt though," Mactavish said.

Roach hung his head.

"I know."

Mactavish leaned in close.

"It's okay. Meat's was the worst thing I've ever tasted. You did good lad," Mactavish whispered, barely audible.

He drew back and smiled widely, before moving to the last dish. Rice crispy treats, compliments of Ghost. Roach felt very bad for Mactavish now, though at the same time very relieved at his disgust at the smoked sausage from Meat. Ghost stared intensely at the Captain, shuffling uncomfortably.

"Ghost, you remembered my favorite desert!" Mactavish said, happier than ever before.

"Of course. I hope their good sir," Ghost said.

"Suck up," Meat whispered into Roach's ear.

"Like you?" Roach asked back, earning a frown from Meat.

Mactavish popped a rice crispy into his mouth and chewed the sticky food. He cried out in delight, taking another, then another. He grabbed the tray, quickly declaring that Ghost had won the tournament. Meat was furious.

"What the hell? His food sucked! Mine was the best!" He called out desperately.

"Meat, if you really knew me, then you would know that smoked sausage is my least favorite dish. Barbeque steak with honey mustard and peas, now that would have won me over," Mactavish called back, stuffing another delicious rice crispy into his mouth.

"Well, what was the prize?" Meat asked, crestfallen.

"Oh yes, Ghost, tomorrow you have the day off. All of the rest of you will train as usual. Thank you all!" Mactavish said joyfully before disappearing from the room.

Meat huffed in disbelief.

"What the hell was the point?" Meat asked, turning to Roach and Ghost.

Roach shrugged, and Ghost just patted him on the shoulder. At least they had made Mactavish happy.

**A/n: I know, its been a few days! I have also neglected to work on my crossover, Four Horsemen, though I hope to have it up by tomorrow. Time really flies! Anyways, hope you enjoyed this!**


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